My “The Big Idea” essay, hosted by John Scalzi, in which I talk about…well…the big idea behind HERO. Which is always fun! ANd John is a particular hero of MINE, so it’s an honor to have an essay on his site.

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Another one-of-a-kind Fairy Tale Rant Video for www.geekgirlinlove.com, in which I rant about Petronella and “Master Maid,” the original fairy tales behind HERO (the ones fewer people are apparently familiar with). Click here to watch!

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I talk about “The Book Shelf I Can’t Live Without” over at Mel’s Shelves, complete with picture and accompanying list of titles I’d be surprised if you’ve heard of.

Where do you go to find decent fiction to read? When I’ve asked people this question lately, their answer is most often John Scalzi’s “The Big Idea.”

In the footsteps of that fabulous Idea, my dear friend Mary Robinette Kowal has launched a feature on her blog called “My Favorite Bit.” In lieu of asking authors the age-old question “Where do you get your ideas?”, Mary asks, “What was your favorite thing about writing the book you just had released?”

Admit it: it’s a strange title. I figured it was about animals (a lot of animals), or a bunch of fetishists, or a country of very hirsute folk. Regardless of the title, I am a pretty big fan of the author (both on and off the page), so I jumped at the chance to get my hands on a review copy. When the book arrived, the illustration on the front had a man in a futuristic flight suit sitting with a funny little guy that looked like a cross between an Ewok and a Mogwai (the Gremlins, not the band). I did not look anything up on the internet, nor did I flip the book over and read the back. It was a John Scalzi book, it was SF, and that was all I needed to know… (Read More)

Title: The Uncertain Places
Author: Lisa Goldstein
EAN: 9781616960148

Sometimes there is magic in every day life. It’s there; you just have to find it. Are your eyes open? Are you concentrating? Because once you start to see it, you’ll never stop. Take Lisa Goldstein, for example.

At the beginning of March, I hit a bit of a wall in this fairy tale novel I’m working on. So I decided to do what most red-blooded authors do in this position: more research. I consider myself fairly well-versed in more fairy tales than you can shake a stick at, but I know I haven’t read them all. I needed to go back to the source. I’ve already taken on the project of podcasting all the Grimms’ tales, so I took out a notebook and concentrated on the Lang fairy books (at least, the three volumes that managed to make it out of storage). I plowed through the Crimson Fairy Book and went straight on to the Red Fairy Book . . . (Read More)

In catching up on things that never got finished during the holidays, I was going through some Christmas photos and came across this:

It just begs for a caption contest, doesn’t it? Give me your best shot — post your best caption (or captions) for this in the comments on my website (let’s say…by Valentine’s Day), and I’ll send a copy of the Dark Faith anthology to the one that makes me laugh the most.

In honor of today’s release of AlphaOops: H is for Halloween, John Scalzi invited me to be his Big Idea for the day. In a very short & cute essay I cover the Big Idea behind AlphaOops in general and about H is for Halloween specifically. I explain exactly why my dedication reads the way it does. I confess my loathing for alphabet books. And I thank a few people. Want some irreverence for your Tuesday morning? Check it out here. Please leave a comment so John knows you stopped by.